In the United States, a majority of the population is overweight or obese. People who are overweight or obese are generally more prone to ailments such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
To lose weight and combat the conditions associated with excess weight, many individuals partake in numerous methods and/or procedures to lose weight. For example, individuals attempt diets, undertake exercise routines or regimens, purchase and use weight reduction equipment or weight reduction drugs, and the like.
Acupuncture has long been used to treat anxiety, back pain, high blood pressure, and osteoarthritis. People are now turning to acupuncture as a treatment for weight loss. Acupuncture is the ancient Chinese art of inserting fine needles under the surface of the skin into specific locations on the body to treat ailments and the like.
Typically, acupuncture involves the insertion of flexible, filiform needles into the skin of a patient at specific regions known as acupoints and at depths sufficient to penetrate certain tissues, musculature or the like. Subsequent manipulation of the needle ends that protrude from the skin (e.g., by manual twisting or vibration) stimulates the subcutaneous tissue and/or intramuscular sensory nerves of the patient.
Electroacupuncture is one variation of traditional acupuncture in which needles are temporarily inserted at specific acupoints along the body and then attached with clips to a device that generates electric pulses. The introduction of a mild current through the needles acts as a stimulus on the tissue and/or nerves in the vicinity of the needle.
Although electroacupuncture using implantable electrodes and an external pulse generator for acute treatment is known, there remains a need for a chronic or permanent means of providing stimulation to the acupoints or meridians.